Bean and Bacon Soup

This is the perfect soup to serve on a snowy winter day, or when you start feeling the brisk cool breeze of fall. I first made this soup a couple years ago. It was march break for the kids and my friend along with her daughter were on their way over to spend the afternoon. I quickly put together this soup along with a couple of croque monsieur and voila, we had lunch! A piece of toasted baguette also makes the prefect easy accompaniment for this hearty soup as well.

Lets talk beans...I use canned, however you can pre soak dried beans the night before if you prefer, or if that is all you have on hand - just as long as it's a white bean.

You have two options with the bacon - you can either dice it into half inch pieces, and fry until crisp, then set aside and add them in the end. Or, make a pestata like I did and allow all the bacony (is that a word?) goodness melt into the soup as it cooks. Either way, you are going to have a ton of bacon flavour, so go easy on the seasoning until the end. I also wanted to mention, you can use tomato paste or add one cup of strained tomatoes - just as long as you get a little tomato flavour in there.

Once the soup is cooked, approx 45 min, I use a hand blender to puree half of the soup to make it thicker. Or, you can use a stand alone blender, just make sure you cool a portion of the soup before you blend it. To serve - I topeed it with fresh Parmesan and pepper, then a light drizzle of olive oil - now dig in!

Are you going to give it a try? Let me know what you think, or invite me over for lunch!